ATMs hitherto installed in financial institutions, convenience stores and the like are configured to deposit cash such as banknotes and coins for a customer, and to pay out cash to a customer, according to the contents of the transaction with the customer.
ATMs include, for example, a pay-in/pay-out section that exchanges banknotes with the customer, a conveyance section that conveys banknotes, a classification section that classifies inserted banknotes by denomination and authenticity, a temporary holding section that temporarily holds inserted banknotes, banknote cassettes that store banknotes by denomination, and a reject cassette that stores banknotes that are not to be reused.
In a pay-in transaction of the ATM, when a customer inserts banknotes into the pay-in/pay-out section, the inserted banknotes are conveyed to the classification section for classification, and banknotes classified as normal banknotes are stored in the temporary holding section. On the other hand, banknotes determined to be unsuitable for transactions are replaced in the pay-in/pay-out section and returned to the customer.
Then, when the pay-in amount has been confirmed by the customer, the ATM feeds out and reclassifies the denominations of the banknotes stored in the temporary holding section using the classification section, and the banknotes are stored in the respective banknote cassettes according to the classified denomination. Moreover, the ATM stores banknotes that have been determined to be heavily damaged in the reject cassette.
In pay-out processing of the ATM, when the amount to be paid out has been confirmed through operation instruction by the customer, banknotes are fed out from the banknote cassettes according to the amount to be paid out, and are conveyed by the conveyance section. After the classification section has determined that the correct number of normal banknotes have been fed out, the banknotes are conveyed to the pay-in/pay-out section to be taken by the customer.
The banknote cassettes of such ATMs sometimes include a tongue piece roller configured by a central portion that rotates around a predetermined rotation shaft, and flexible tongue pieces provided only in a predetermined range of an outer circumferential face of the central portion, extending in a radiating pattern in a direction away from the central portion (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 5141577 (FIG. 4, etc.)).
For example, the conventional banknote cassette 817 illustrated in FIG. 17 includes an internal space 21S inside a casing 21, in which banknotes are stacked. The banknote cassette 817 further includes plate shaped conveyance guides 24 and 25 that guide banknotes along a conveyance path 26 for conveying the banknotes to the internal space 21S.
At an upper side and a lower side in the vicinity of a portion where the conveyance path 26 is in communication with the internal space 21S side, feed rollers 32 and separation rollers 35 that rotate about predetermined rotation shafts are disposed facing each other. Picker rollers 42 are disposed at a ceiling face of the internal space 21S.
The banknote cassette 817 further includes tongue piece rollers 36 that share a rotation shaft with the separation rollers 35. As illustrated in FIG. 18, each tongue piece roller 36 is configured by a circular column shaped central body 51 with a smaller external diameter than the separation rollers 35, and tongue pieces 52 provided projecting discretely across a range covering approximately ⅜ of an outer circumferential face of the central body.
The tongue pieces 52 are configured from a flexible material with a high coefficient of friction. Moreover, each tongue piece 52 is formed in a long, narrow, thin plate shape, and an outer end thereof reaches out further than the outer periphery of the separation rollers 35.
The conveyance guides 24 and 25 are appropriately provided with holes that expose a portion of each of the feed rollers 32 and the separation rollers 35, for example, to inside the conveyance path 26, and that allow the feed rollers 32 and the separation rollers 35 to rotate unimpeded. Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 18, the conveyance guide 25 is provided with holes 25H2 through which the tongue pieces 52 of the tongue piece rollers 36 pass.
During banknote storage by the banknote cassette 817, a banknote conveyed along the conveyance guide 25 is nipped between the feed rollers 32 and the separation rollers 35, and the feed rollers 32 are rotated in the direction of arrow R1, and the separation rollers 35 are rotated in the direction of arrow R2, to discharge the banknote into the internal space 21S. The banknote moves toward the rear inside the internal space 21S, and hits a bill stopper 29 disposed on an extension line of the conveyance path 26, such that the bill stopper 29 absorbs the impact.
The banknote cassette 817 then rotates the tongue piece rollers 36 in the arrow R2 direction together with the separation rollers 35, and pats the banknote inside the internal space 21S downward with the tongue pieces 52 to stack the banknote by pressing the banknote down onto a stage 22 inside the internal space 21S, or onto banknotes stacked thereon, and dragging the banknote toward the front.
When feeding out banknotes, the banknote cassette 817 rotates and stops the tongue pieces 52 of the tongue piece rollers 36 at a retracted position away from the conveyance path 26 and the internal space 21S, and rotates the picker rollers 42 and the feed rollers 32 in the arrow R2 direction.
Moreover, the banknote cassette 817 moves the stage 22 inside the internal space 21S upward, and presses the uppermost face of the stacked banknotes against the picker rollers 42. One note at a time, the banknote with the uppermost face out of the stacked banknotes is separated and fed out to the conveyance path 26 by the rotating picker rollers 42 and feed rollers 32.
Namely, the banknote cassette 817 is capable of stacking and storing banknotes inside the internal space 21S, and of separating and feeding out banknotes from inside the internal space 21S.